Narine ‘surprised’ after recording quickest 50 in IPL

Bengaluru, May 7 (IANS) Sunil Narine admitted that he did not expect he would hit the fastest 50 in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and was surprised with his own power hitting as he helped Kolkata Knight Riders to a six-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore here on Sunday.

"Yes, I'm very surprised. Definitely wasn't expecting something like this," Narine, who was adjudged Man of the Match for his all-round show, said post-match at the presentation ceremony.

Narine's 17-ball 54 was complemented by 2/29 in his four overs to restrict RCB, batting first, to 158/6. KKR chased down the target of 159 easily having 29 balls to spare. Chris Lynn was Narine's foil, the fit-again Australian dasher scoring a 22-ball 50.

The pair added 105 runs for the first wicket to take the game away from Virat Kohli's boys.

"Lynny just said, keep your eyes on the ball, maintain your focus and swing through the line. I try to keep it simple and back my ability," Narine said.

Narine has been opening the batting since Lynn injured his shoulder in a match against Mumbai Indians.

On taking the important wicket of AB de Villiers, Narine said: "That wicket was key (AB de Villiers) and pulled them back a bit so I'm happy. It was a total team effort. Bowlers stuck to their plans. Umesh (Yadav)'s was a key performance too."